In 1984, P.S. Ghosh Dastidar sent the following Letter to the Editor of The Statesman newspaper in Delhi in response to an article on Rahul Gandhi:
바카라Sir, 바카라. To my knowledge, Rahul Gandhi바카라s father did not study at Cambridge. He was a student of the Imperial College but failed to pass his first-year examinations바카라.바카라
Dr. Albert Michael D바카라Rozario took a pair of scissors and cut out Dastidar바카라s Letter to the Editor. He pasted it onto a sheet of paper, scribbling in the margins: 바카라I know the information!바카라 He then placed the paper in a file titled 바카라Rajiv Gandhi,바카라 and probably forgot all about it.
Dr. Rozario바카라s association with Rajiv was from two different standpoints: on the one hand, he was a bureaucrat, posted as Scientific Adviser & Minister to the Indian High Commission in London. His job was to look after the interests of all Indian students in the United Kingdom.
Before joining the Indian Civil Service in 1943, he completed his PhD from Selwyn College, Cambridge. He knew Cambridge and its system well, and Indira Gandhi relied on his expertise to guide young Rajiv towards his own future.
On the other hand, he knew Rajiv바카라s father, Feroze (Gandhi) from when they were students at Ewing Christian College, University of Allahabad. They met standing in a queue to pay their entrance fees, and Feroze had famously asked Albert to 바카라join the movement바카라 for
India바카라s Independence. Albert was sympathetic, but his interests lay firmly in the classroom.
When I tweeted a few months ago about Dr. Rozario바카라s role in Rajiv바카라s life, the Indian Minister of Law used it to his advantage, tweeting that
바카라바카라 diplomats were busy fixing colleges for the grandkids of Pt. Nehru.바카라
However, this was common practice for the Indian Minister of Science in the United Kingdom. There was no such thing as an 바카라online application바카라 in 1961. Dr. Rozario helped many other students, including some who went on to have close associations with the BJP.
This essay is an attempt to set the record straight.
In April 1961, T.N. Kaul (later Foreign Secretary of India) sent a personal telegram to Dr. Rozario on behalf of Indira Gandhi: 바카라Dr. Rozario may kindly advise in detail urgently as to which would be the best course to follow in the circumstances and which college would be best for
Rajiv to study at Cambridge.바카라 Dr. Rozario recommended Engineering (given young Rajiv바카라s interests) and Trinity, Kings, or St Johns. It was decided that Trinity (Pt. Nehru바카라s alma mater) would be best.
When the question of Rajiv바카라s admission arose in further letters between Indira Gandhi and Dr. Rozario in 1961, he immediately met Mark Pryor, an old friend and Senior Tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge to apprise him of young Rajiv바카라s credentials and seek Pryor바카라s advice on how to proceed.
After their meeting, Dr. Rozario recorded a few notes: 바카라It was agreed that Trinity College will accept Rajivratna Gandhi if he passes the Mechanical Sciences Qualifying (MSQ) Examination with a reasonable grade.바카라 Dr. Rozario also gave Pryor a copy of Rajiv바카라s results from Doon, where he received a second-class certificate (due to a 바카라pass바카라 grade in Chemistry. He did well in all his other subjects).
Prior to Cambridge, Dr. Rozario arranged for Rajiv to receive tutoring from Davies, Laing & Dick (DLD) Ltd. in London. Rajiv needed a 바카라General Certificate of Education at Advanced Level바카라 if he wanted to join Cambridge directly after Doon. In September 1961, the Director of Studies of DLD sent a monthly report on Rajiv바카라s progress, writing, 바카라(He is) an interesting, cultured, well-read youth.바카라 However, Rajiv failed the MSQ exam in his first attempt (March 1962) but passed on his second attempt in June 1962.
Pryor issued a Letter of Acceptance to Rajiv on 4th September 1962, with an extra copy CC바카라ed to Dr. Rozario. Rajiv joined Trinity in October 1962, studying Engineering while also joining the rowing team, which kept him busy and perhaps uninterested in his studies.
Mrs. Gandhi wrote to Dr. Rozario in June 1963: 바카라It is good of you to take such trouble and personal interest in Rajiv.바카라 She often wrote to Dr. Rozario, sometimes mentioning her late husband Feroze, and other times expressing concern as a mother for Rajiv바카라s wellbeing in the
United Kingdom. Dr. Rozario was a comfortable point of contact, and he often had stern conversations with Rajiv, scolding him for not writing to his mother more often. Rajiv ultimately agreed to write home every Wednesday.
In response to Mrs. Gandhi바카라s letter in June 1963, Dr Rozario wrote: 바카라My main concern is the future of Rajiv. Rajiv must pull up. He dropped in to see me this afternoon and he was with me for an hour. I took the lad to task and asked him to tell me frankly if he had worked during the year. His answer was 바카라 very little. Then I gave him a bit of my mind and Rajiv assured me that he was prepared to work in future and show more interest in his work.바카라 He enlisted a small army of Trinity tutors to help, assuring Mrs. Gandhi that Rajiv would pass, if he worked hard enough. There were no strings pulled, not even for Pt. Nehru바카라s grandson.
Rajiv바카라s interests lay elsewhere 바카라 far from academics and (at the time) Indian politics.
Dr. Rozario wrote in his diary in June 1963, 바카라바카라 his (Rajiv바카라s) father was more interested in politics than studies and from what I have seen of Rajiv, he is also not academically inclined.바카라
Dr. Rozario left London in 1964, returning to New Delhi to take up a new assignment as Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Education. He was later superseded for Secretary by M.C. Chagla (the then Minister of Education), becoming perhaps the longest-serving Joint Secretary at the Ministry.
Rajiv ultimately failed to get his degree at Cambridge 바카라 unable to pass year-end examinations. He also failed at Imperial, which he joined later, on the recommendation of Dr. Rozario바카라s successor at the Indian High Commission (and so, Dastidar was partly correct).
Dr. Rozario died in 1998 at the age of 87. He left the file marked 바카라Rajiv Gandhi바카라 at the bottom of a cardboard box containing letters and correspondence from his time in government. He never told a soul about his experiences with Rajiv other than his wife Sophy, who often hosted young Rajiv at their home in Finchley, North London.
As a result, much of what has been written about Rajiv바카라s time in England is based on very little substance and mostly on speculation. I guess the man who 바카라knew the information바카라 wasn바카라t willing to divulge details. Rajiv, as far as Dr. Rozario was concerned, was just like the other Indian students he guided. It was his job, and he did it to the best of his abilities.
Rajiv kept in touch, and sometimes visited Dr. Rozario in retirement at his farm in Fatehpur Beri, outside Delhi. They were always pleased to see each other, embracing in a hug and reminiscing about their time in England.
(Aryan D바카라Rozario is based in Washington D.C. He is the great-grandson of Dr. Albert Michael D바카라Rozario. This essay is based on approximately 157 documents concerning Rajiv Gandhi, the 6th Prime Minister of India, that remain unpublished.)
